Comparison

PubWorks vs ArcGIS Field Maps

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

PubWorks

Empower your public works department with a mobile workforce solution. Record work in real-time, respond to service requests instantly, and manage inspections and assets efficiently. Seamlessly integrates with your main database for instant updates.

Highlights
  • Real-time work recording
  • Mobile work orders
  • Service request management
  • Inspections
  • Asset inventory
  • Seamless database integration
Features
Read full description

This app is for PubWorks customers only. Equipping your crew with tablets will create your new mobile workforce – allowing them to record work as they go, and quickly respond to new work orders and service requests. This divide-and-conquer field-recording capability will increase your department’s efficiency and productivity. With mobile mapping, work orders, service requests, inspections and asset inventory, you’ll be better equipped to deal with sudden change of crew needs. This mobile public works tool designed to seamlessly interact, securely and in real-time, with the main PubWorks database which can be hosted on-site or in the cloud. This allows in-office updates to reach field crews automatically and instantly. Field crews will be able to act on the latest information and record their work allowing office staff to see their accomplishments, notes and photos in seconds.

About

ArcGIS Field Maps

This app provides mobile workers with interactive digital maps to understand their surroundings, locate assets, and collect data. It features smart forms for efficient data entry, offline capabilities, and location sharing for coordination and safety. Designed for organizational use, it supports fieldwork for various teams.

Highlights
  • Interactive digital maps
  • Smart forms for data collection
  • Offline map capabilities
  • Location sharing and tracking
  • Geofence alerts
  • Asset scanning and annotation
  • Data editing and syncing
Features
Read full description

ArcGIS is available on your desktop, in a browser, and now on your iPhone or iPad. ArcGIS Field Maps is Esri’s premier maps app on mobile devices. Field Maps helps mobile workers understand their surroundings, find assets, collect data, and perform inspections, leveraging interactive digital maps that contain up-to-date GIS data from their organization. It includes powerful features like location sharing, smart forms for efficient data collection, geofence alerts, and the ability to complete fieldwork even when offline. Whether you're part of a utility crew, a conservation team, or a city inspection unit,Field Mapsis designed to support the work you do on the ground. Note about permissions:Field Maps is designed for organizational use. This app requires you to have an ArcGIS organizational account to collect and update data. Public maps shared by organizations can be viewed without signing in. Understand your surroundings: - View assets and surrounding landmarks or places on GPS-enabled maps. - Search for assets and access important information about them. - Use compass guidance to lead you directly to assets and locations. - Scan barcodes or QR codes to pull up asset records instantly. - Annotate directly on the map with your finger or stylus to create personal notes. - Leverage integration with voice-guided turn-by-turn navigation apps to get to your assets. - Stay safe with geofence alerts as you enter fire zones, wildlife habitats, work areas, etc. - Measure distances and areas in the map. - Gain advanced understanding by viewing and tracing utility networks. - View stationing information along linear assets. - View assets and locations in floor-aware indoor maps. Perform data capture and inspections: - Create new or edit existing asset data. - Connect to external GNSS receivers for high-accuracy data. - Digitally document inspection records. - Capture photos, videos, and other attachments. - Speed up data capture with smart forms and reduce manual entry by automatically filling in fields like date or inspector name and making automated calculations. - Share your updates instantly with your organization when using an online map and automatically sync stored updates to offline maps when connected. - Collect assets and perform inspections indoors. Share your location for coordination & safety: - Share your location with supervisors and teammates (when enabled). - View teammate locations to coordinate efforts and ensure safety (when enabled). - Tracks show where you’ve been so you can visually see what area you’ve covered. Work offline in remote or disconnected areas: - Download offline map areas created for you. - Create your own offline map areas on device (if enabled). - Sync edits automatically or manually when connected. Coordination and collaboration: - View edits and contributions from others as they are synced with your map. - Use tasks to view and complete field assignments from a to-do list. - Stakeholders can view fieldwork progress in the office and make data-informed decisions. Note: Continued use of GPS running in the background can dramatically decrease battery life.

Screenshots

PubWorks3 screens
ArcGIS Field Maps4 screens

Verdict

The call

PubWorks and ArcGIS Field Maps both sit at 2.0 stars, but that hides the real split: 11% of ArcGIS Field Maps's written reviews are positive against 0% of PubWorks's. ArcGIS Field Maps also leads on ratings volume (58 vs 10). PubWorks's advantage is iOS requirement (10.0 vs 18.5). On price, rating, update cadence and ads there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 2.0 for PubWorks against 2.1 for ArcGIS Field Maps. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: ArcGIS Field Maps has 58 ratings behind it against 10, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 0% of PubWorks's written reviews are positive against 11% of ArcGIS Field Maps's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly monthly. The most recent releases landed on November 3, 2026 and November 4, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences · 7 level
PubWorks versus ArcGIS Field Maps: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterPubWorksArcGIS Field Maps
PriceFreeFree
Rating2.0 (10 ratings)2.1 (58 ratings) — better
Positive reviews0.0% of reviews11.4% of reviews — better
Number of ratings1058 — better
Update frequencyMonthlyMonthly
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFreeFree
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS10.0 — better18.5
Further details — not scored
Size79 MB161 MB
Age rating4+4+
DevelopergWorksESRI

Customer experience

PubWorks

All ratings10 ratings
Positive20.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative80.0%
Written reviews2 reviews
Positive0.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative100.0%

ArcGIS Field Maps

All ratings45 ratings
Positive24.4%
Neutral8.9%
Negative66.7%
Written reviews114 reviews
Positive11.4%
Neutral19.3%
Negative69.3%

Bugs and requests

PubWorks

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

ArcGIS Field Maps

Reported bugs

20 issues
  • App crashes on startup and during use
  • Layers fail to load intermittently
  • Offline map downloads fail or hang indefinitely
  • Authentication errors and keyboard not appearing on login
  • Maps load only 30% of the time
Show 15 more
  • Search functionality broken
  • Markup files lost after updates
  • Multiple markup layers no longer supported
  • Touch/tap detection inaccurate requiring multiple attempts
  • Photo EXIF direction data captured at wrong time
  • Location tracking bounces around map
  • App freezes when rotating screen
  • Syncing issues with offline edits
  • Feature class save errors
  • Arcade expression errors in feature classes
  • Raster layer display issues
  • Text rendering problems
  • Battery drain up to 10% per minute
  • Required token errors appearing randomly
  • Cooldown period between POI data entry updates

Requested features

13 requests
  • Stylus support for drawing features
  • Landscape mode for iPhone devices
  • Apple Watch integration and capabilities
  • Export functionality (GPX, KMZ formats)
  • Improved offline area size and quality selection
Show 8 more
  • Better cone of vision visibility
  • Attribute table visibility in field
  • CarPlay compatibility
  • Share individual features, not just map center
  • Notification when position collection completes
  • Permanent UI customization options
  • More markup colors and customization
  • Improved search functionality

In-app purchases

None

PubWorks

No in-app purchases

None

ArcGIS Field Maps

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is PubWorks free?
PubWorks is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is ArcGIS Field Maps free?
ArcGIS Field Maps is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, PubWorks or ArcGIS Field Maps?
ArcGIS Field Maps is rated higher. PubWorks averages 2.0 out of 5 from 10 ratings, while ArcGIS Field Maps averages 2.1 from 58 ratings.
Do PubWorks or ArcGIS Field Maps have ads?
Neither PubWorks nor ArcGIS Field Maps shows ads.
Which is updated more often, PubWorks or ArcGIS Field Maps?
PubWorks ships an update monthly, and ArcGIS Field Maps monthly. Most recently, PubWorks was updated on November 3, 2026 and ArcGIS Field Maps on November 4, 2026.

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